Agencies & Partners

How can Agencies be a part of the Community Watershed Partnership?

The Community Watershed Partnership (CWP) initiative in the Tahoe Basin will involve coordination between

many stakeholders and partnering agencies. Any given watershed area within the Tahoe

Basin typically includes a variety of important landowners, land managers, residents and

stakeholder groups. These partners include but are not limited to:

• Tahoe Resource Conservation District (Tahoe RCD)
• Nevada Tahoe Resource Conservation District (NTCD)
• Natural Resource Conservation Service
• US Forest Service
• States of California & Nevada
• Municipalities, Counties and Nevada GID's
• Tahoe Regional Planning Agency
• California Tahoe Conservancy
• Local Fire Districts
• CalTrans & NDOT
• Lahontan Water District

that will integrate public and private efforts to restore and improve environmental

conditions within the Tahoe Basin. The plethora of projects and activities currently being

implemented within the Basin can be overwhelming to local community members and

residents. CWP will consist of outreach activities, neighborhood conservation and stewardship events and

interactive forums within targeted watershed areas throughout the Tahoe Basin to raise

awareness amongst community members and residents and to increase understanding and

support for restoration and conservation efforts.

CWP also aims to to integrate program/project implementation and to

facilitate communication among environmental agency stakeholders. The complex

nature of implementing conservation projects in the Tahoe Basin has resulted in difficulty

in providing a holistic approach to conservation efforts in an efficient and cost effective

manner. Dwindling budgets and funding cuts (i.e. SNPLMA) for these various projects means that all

stakeholders will need to explore alternate opportunities to share available resources and

to develop efficient and shared implementation options wherever possible.

Just as in the early days of the West, we'll need to rely on community and neighborhood partnerships to share resources in order to succeed and thrive in the Tahoe Basin!

It is the hope of CWP partners that agency representatives will be willing to convene and to discuss on-

going or upcoming environmental restoration projects within the Lake Tahoe Basin and

targeted watershed areas. Only through a collaborative process will we be able to realize

and recognize common values and interests in the preservation of Lake Tahoe.

Potential Roles for agency participation in the Community Watershed Partnership:

• Exploration of opportunities for shared resources and potential cost reduction in

implementation of environmental restoration projects

• Sharing of project and contact information on the CWP website in order to solicit community feedback and increase environmental awareness and stewardship at the neighborhood level

• Presentation of information through the venue of interpretative talks, stewardship

activities and public forums as related to ongoing or upcoming environmental

restoration practices

• Peer review of Tahoe RCD and NTCD developed materials (website, events, etc) and

provision of feedback and comments related to agency specific roles or project

implementation

• Collaborative activities within neighborhoods, such as guided tours of improved

recreational trails, EIP projects and best practices for sustainable living in the

Tahoe Basin

Benefits to agency partners:

• Assistance in establishing public/private partnerships and in meeting load reduction standards and reduction credits as established by the Lake Tahoe TMDL and/or NPDES

• Assistance with increased private sector participation in conducting defensible space activities that will compliment work implemented on

public lands

• Increased distribution of CWP and project partners' outreach materials through partner agency websites, kiosks and interaction with the public

• Support and outreach of ongoing and upcoming CWP activities

• Provide feedback on ongoing environmental projects with other agency representatives and to develop opportunities for shared resources and potential cost savings